Belt lifter



April 7- A. A. DAVIS 2,418,337

BELT LIFTER Filed Dec. 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES: V INVENTOR I Y ART/{U2 ALDAV/fi BY 2 '5 ATTORN v April ,1, 1947. A. A. DAVIS 2,418,337

BELT LIFTER I I Filed Dec. 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR ARTHUR 4. DA v15 ATI'OR Y Patented Apr. 1, 1947 BELT LIFTER Arthur A. Davis, Springfield, Mass, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania- ApplicationDecember 6, 1941', Serial No; 421,925

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a tool or device for placing a belt on a pulley, and more particularly to a tool or device for placing the brush roll driving belt of a suction cleaner on the driving pulley.

An object is to provide a simple tool or device for placing a belt on a pulley.

Another object is to provide a simple and effec tive tool or device for placing a belt on a pulley located in a casing, wherein the belt is placed on the pulley through an aperture in the: casing.

These and other objects are effected by my-invention as will be. apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection. with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation. of a suction cleaner, with parts broken away, and the tool provided by this invention showing the tool as applied in the initial stage of its use in placing a belt on a driving pulley;

Fig, 2 is a perspective view of the tool or device;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the cleaner and tool shown in Fig. 1, with parts of the cleaner broken away; and

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are views similar to Fig. 3', illustrating several successive stages in placing the belt on the pulley.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the reference character It) indicates a suction cleaner including generally a casing I! having a nozzle portion #2, and a brush roll or rotor I3 mounted in the nozzle portion l2 near the inlet thereto. The casing l i' also encloses a driving motor which has a shaft is extending therefrom and projecting into the nozzle !2 above. the brush roll 13. The shaft hi is provided or formed with a pulley l5 and rotary motion is transmitted from the shaft i i to the brush roll l3 by an endless rubber belt it which runs on the pulley l5 and, a pulley ii on the brush roll. Access is. had to the belt #6 and the pulley i5 through an opening IS in the front of the casing H The opening [9 is substantially coaxial with the shaft [4 and is normally closed by a suitable snap-on plate. (not shown). 7

The tool of the present invention, indicated generally by the reference character 2!, is fashioned from a length of wire to provide a U-shaped portion having legs 23 and 24 and a bight portion 22 connecting the two legs, and a loop 25 formed by extending the leg 23, This loop provides a handle 26 for manipulating the tool or device. The leg 24 and the bight portion 22 provide in effect a hook, an end portion 21 of 2 which is bent slightly, out of the plane including the leg 23 and the bight portion 22, so as to conform partially to the shape of the pulley l5, The device or tool is so fashioned that the end portion 2% of the loop 2-5 is substantially in line with the extended leg 23, so that the leg 23 and the portion 29 will serve as a guide or stop to insure that the tool is properly positioned when the hook is inserted into the casing l I and to prevent it from being inserted too far thereinto. 7

To place the belt It on the pulley [5, the tool 2! is positioned with the leg 24 extending upwardly. The leg 24 and the bight portion 22 of the tool are inserted between the sides of the belt l6 and through the opening !9 into the casing H, the bent portion 21 being inserted between the sides of the belt from left to right as viewed in Fig. 3, this correct direction of insertion being indicated by the fact that the portion 21 is bent and points to the right. The leg 24 is positioned to the left of (Fig. 3) and in contact with the pulley Hi. The bight portion 22 is of such length that in this position the bight portion, the upper portion of the belt, and the righthand side of the belt are beyond the end of the pulley, as seen in Fig. 1, While most of the lefthand side, of the belt is not beyond the end of the pulley; The tool is then rotated clockwise through the several positions shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. As such rotation proceeds through the stage illustrated in Fig. i, the upper portion of the belt is raised, and the engagement of the leg it with the pulley I5 is facilitated by its concave form. As the belt is moved, the left-hand side of the belt moves against and over the pulley while the right-hand side moves across the front of. and clear of the pulley, so that the belt is looped over the pulley l5 and twisted in the proper manner.

It will be noted in Fig. 1 that the portions 23 and 29 of the tool bear against the surface surroundingthe opening it and serve to prevent the leg 24 from being inserted too far into the casing II; that is, so far that both sides of the belt bear against the pulley and prevent it from being looped on the pulley.

Fig. 6 also illustrates the position of the leg 25 after the tool 2| has been rotated through approximately It is seen that theleg 2 has passed over the pulley and is now under the same, and between the two sides of the belt I6, from which position it may be removed from the casing I! through the opening N. The belt is left looped over the pulley I5, andafiords a 3 driving connection between the pulley l5 and the pulley II.

It is well known in this art that with this type of belt drive the belt must be twisted a certain way before placing it on the pulley l5 or else it will run off the end of the pulley as soon as the motor is started. In the particular arrangement shown, the upper end of the belt must be twisted to the right, as seen in Fig. 3, or counterclockwise, as viewed from above. The tool 21 has been designed with this fact in mind, and when it is positioned as shown in Fig. 3, the end portion 21 of leg 24 points from left to right and thus indicates to the user that the leg 24 should be inserted between the sides of the belt it from left to right in order to twist the belt in the proper direction when placing it on the pulley l5. If the operator should insert the leg 24 between the sides of the belt Hi from right to left, the belt will be twisted to the left. If the tool is then rotated as previously described to place the belt on the pulley l5, both sides of the belt will be wrapped over the top of the pulley instead of placing the left-hand side over the top and'the right-hand side across the front of the pulley, as is necessary in order to properly place the belt on the pulley. It is thus seen that it is impossible to place the belt [6 on the pulley i5 when the leg 24 is inserted between the sides of the belt in the wrong direction or, in other words, when the belt is twisted in the wrong direction. It has been found that with this tool, one is naturally led to put the belt on the pulley the right way. and, if one-tries to put it on the wrong way, it is soon discovered that it cannot be placed on wrong.

When hose attachments are used with this type of suction cleaner, the hose connector is inserted into the opening [9. This necessitates removal from and replacement onto the pulley of the belt 15 each time the hose attachments are used. It is diflicult to place the belt IE on the pulley I 5 with ones fingers because of necessity, in order to properly transmit rotary motion from the pulley l5 to the brush roll I3, the belt 16 must have considerable tension therein, and because the pulley l5 and the belt I6 are located inside the casing H and one must work through the opening IS in the casing H, it is exceedingly difficult to stretch the belt [6 with ones fingers far enough to place it over the pulley l5. It also occasionally becomes necessary to replace the belt i6 with a new belt. This is exceedingly difiicult to do with ones fingers for the new belts are usually very stiff. This tool overcomes such difficulty. As seen from the foregoing, by the use of the tool 2!, the belt "5 may be readily placed upon the pulley with very little effort, merely by properly positioning the tool and rotating it through approximately 180.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawing, it is seen that this invention provides a simple and effective tool or device for placing a belt on a pulley, and is especially adapted for placing a belt on a pulley that is located in a casing wherein the belt is placed on the pulley through an aperture in .the casing.

While I have shown my invention in but one ,form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the 4 art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A tool for placing an endless belt on a pulley, said tool being fashioned from a length of wire to provide a substantially U-shaped hook having one leg and a bight portion in substantially the same plane, said one leg of said hook being extended to provide a loop or handle disposed remote from the other leg, said loop terminating in a portion extending substantially in line with said one leg on the side of the bight portion opposite from said one leg and an end portion of the other leg being bent at an acute angle to the plane including said one leg and the bight of said hook.

2. A tool for placing the brush roll driving belt of a suction cleaner on a driving pulley, the pulley and the belt being located in a casing and the casing having an opening in axial alignment with the pulley, said tool comprising a, U-shaped portion having first and second legs and a bight portion connecting said legs, the outer end of said first leg extending at an angle to the portion adjacent said bight portion and to the general plane of the U-shaped portion, a member substantially in alignment with said second leg on the opposite side of said bight portion, and a handle connected to said second leg and disposed on the side thereof remote from said first leg, said member and said second leg being adapted to engage the outer surface of the cleaner on opposite sides of said, opening and limit the insertion of said first leg and said bight portion such that, when said first leg is engaged with and rotated over said pulley, said bight portion is positioned to bring said belt over the end of the pulley and onto the pulley.

3. A tool for placing a belt on a pulley comprising a U-shaped portion having first and second legs and a bight portion connecting the same, the outer end portion of said first leg extending at an angle to the general plane of the U-shaped portion to adapt said first leg to engage the pulley, and a handle including a portion disposed substantially parallel to said legs and on the side of said second leg remote from said first leg,

ARTHUR A. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,666,789 Pobanz Apr. 17, 1928 2,121,129 Malone June 21, 1938 697,454 Davison Apr. 15, 1902 303,977 Blakeslee Aug. 26, 1884 904,648 Rodericks Nov. 24, 1908 429,409 Beals June 3, 1890 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 13,933 Great Britain July 6, 1905 

